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Health

Health | Key Trends

Physical and mental health is a precursor to individual and community well-being. Like other areas, our state struggles with health problems like drug addiction, cancer and obesity. Yet most people have health insurance, and mortality rates have sharply declined.

Suicide Rate

Youth Alcohol Use

Access to health care is critical for a community’s well-being. In Delaware, 10% of residents lacked health insurance in 2014, below the national rate of 16% and below rates in comparable areas. In addition, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, insurance coverage has expanded. Nearly 25,000 Delaware residents signed up for a qualified health plan on HealthCare.gov between Nov. 15, 2014, and Feb. 15, 2015, or more than half the state’s potential pool of 48,000 people.[1]

Overall mortality has declined sharply since 2000 in Delaware, as it has nationwide, as medical advances make it possible for people to live longer. The state’s mortality rate of 73 deaths per 10,000 residents has fallen 18% since 2000. The mortality rate was highest in Kent County (80) and lower in both New Castle and Sussex (71 and 75 respectively).

Cancer is a leading cause of death. Delaware has a slightly higher incidence of cancer (new cases diagnosed within a year) but cancer mortality rates are comparable to the nation and similar areas. In 2013, the state’s cancer incidence rate was 52 per 10,000 residents, compared with a national rate of 46. The mortality rate for cancer was 17 per 10,000 residents in Delaware in 2014, on par with the national rate.

Substance use is a special concern among young people. In 2012-14, 11% of Delaware youth ages 12-17 reported using alcohol in the previous 30 days, about the same as the rates in the nation and comparable areas. About 10% said they used illegal drugs, slightly above the national rate of 9%.

About 4% of Delawareans 12 and older reported having a serious mental illness in 2012-14, similar to the national rate. The state’s rate of suicide was 1.3 deaths per 10,000 residents, the same as the national rate in 2014. For Delaware, this was a 27% increase from the level reported in 2000.

Air quality has improved considerably in Delaware since 2000, with the percentage of days for which air quality was monitored and found to be good increasing from 47% in 2000 to 69% in 2015. Still, Delaware’s air quality lags behind comparable communities like Rhode Island (79%), the Jacksonville metro area (89%), and the Richmond metro area (85%).